Quebecor signs management agreement with Quebec City arena

The City of Quebec and Quebecor signed an agreement on the proposed arena overnight Thursday, a few days ahead of the Sept. 7 deadline.

Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume and Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Peladeau met late Thursday afternoon, privately, in Quebec, along with their collaborators.

The 150- to 200-page agreement was initialed in the hours that followed until about 3 a.m. Friday.

Quebec city council is expected to approve the documents at a special meeting scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday.

"I can confirm that the City of Quebec and Quebecor have come to an agreement on the contract documents for the management of the arena,"

Quebecor spokesman Martin Tremblay said on Friday.

The company does not plan on speaking further about the agreement until council approval, Tremblay said.

Mr. Tremblay also noted that Quebecor intended to remain very quiet until the approval of the agreement by the City Council on Tuesday, during a special session.

Quebecor has also reached an agreement with the group J'ai ma place, which has raised nearly $ 17 million for the proposed arena so far, mainly by selling seats in the new arena.

Quebecor will honour the commitment to give priority to purchasers of seats on sales of tickets for shows or hockey games in the new amphitheater. In return, J'ai ma place will help finance the new arena.

Earlier this year, Peladeau bought naming and management rights to the proposed $400 million arena that would be the first step to the return of the NHL in the provincial capital.

If an expansion franchise is not available, Quebecor, which owns Sun News Network and QMI Agency, would look at moving a team to Quebec City to replace the Nordiques, who headed south to Colorado in 1995.